The Three Week Cycle

What does it take to lose weight? 

Long story short- consistency.

You have to consistently eat the right foods and burn enough calories to decrease your body weight. What I have noticed is that the third week tends to be the “make it or break it” point. Example- there’s that first week where you’re highly motivated to change… “This is the week!”… you go to the gym four days that week, you eat perfectly, and you even lose a couple pounds! You’re determined to keep it up the next week. 

The next week comes and you’re still somewhat motivated, but you bump your gym days down to two and an almost (almost went to the gym… but… something came up or you just… never… quite… got around to it). You eat somewhat good, but the friends came calling for you to hang out, and, of course you HAD to go. You lose another pound and are determined to make the next week a better week.

Then, here comes the third week. You are determined to go to the gym at least three days this week…but… you’ll go tomorrow. Your eating was a little off today…but… tomorrow you’ll do better. This cycle continues through the end of the week until you look up and realize that you did not make it to the gym AND you didn’t do so well with the eating. And the scale shows you’re up three pounds. Great. Now you are back at square one.

Does this cycle sound familiar? Did you think you were alone? You’re not. But part of the key is recognizing your pattern and what needs to be changed to develop healthier lifestyle habits. Challenge yourself to make it all the way through that third week, and I bet the fourth week will be easier. You will have become more use to the routine. It will be less of a chore and more of a habit. And this is ultimately what you want to happen. You want for this to become a lifestyle change, not something short-term just to reach a numerical goal. 

So, next week may be “the week” that you’ve decided you’re going to do everything perfectly, but start by setting small, challenging but achievable goals. Then, carry those goals out through the next 3-4 weeks, then reevaluate and make more changes. Don’t burn yourself out by trying to accomplish things in one week that you can’t initially keep up for three, cause in the end, what was the point??? Let’s make some real goals that lead to real results.

Random fact: If you eat 100 calories a day more than your body needs, you will gain approximately 10 pounds in a year.